Transfers of Priests

We have been blessed with the arrival of five new priests to the diocese. In a short while they will be ready for appointment to any of the parishes of the diocese after having been learning Xhosa at Mthatha. We thank the Precious Blood Sisters for having accommodated them at Glen Avent Convent.

Other priests who have been serving the diocese for many years will be leaving the diocese, according to a plan already programmed quite a few months back.

All these things considered, we have no choice but to make some changes and to move some priests around the different parishes of the diocese. We ask you, People of God, to be understanding with all the changes, and to welcome the new priests into your Parish Communities.

In short, this is how the changes will affect different parishes:

Three Divine Word Missionaries will be appointed to Bizana parish. As a result, Frs. Gabriel Thabang and Patrick Kofu will be shifted. Fr. Gabriel will take up Mount Ayliff and Tabankulu and Fr. Patrick will be posted at Bhongweni.

The two Comboni priests now working in Mount Ayliff and Tabankulu – Frs. Melese and Paul, will take up new assignments with the Comboni missionaries outside the diocese.

Two other Divine Word Missionaries will be stationed at Cedarville parish, in which case Fr, Major Zanemvula will move to take care of Mount Frere parish. Fr. Mariano and Brother Hermann will also move outside the diocese to their new appointments. The transfers are expected to take place around 15 of April of this year and concerning Cedarville and Mount Frere will be at the end of June when one of the priests return from his leave overseas.

We are so much grateful to the Comboni Priests and Brother for their generous service to people of Kokstad Diocese and wish them plenitude of God’s blessings in their new appointments.

Dear People of God, we did not want to make too many changes because we had been promised that soon we would be given a new bishop for our diocese. Since this has not happened and the new priests are ready to start working, we have been left without any choice. As we said before, please welcome your priests wholeheartedly and support them as much as you can.

Let us also thank the Lord because during the course of this year, one of our local seminarians, Br. Fidel Muhase, will be ordained to the deaconate; he will also be working in one of the parishes of the diocese once he is ordained a priest. Keep on praying for local vocations to the Church and support them financially.

We are in the time of Lent; let us all pray for a true change of heart and mind in order to turn our lives back to God.